George Will calls for pull-out — George F. Will, the elite conservative commentator, will call in his next column for U.S. ground troops to leave Afghanistan, according to publishing sources. — “[F]orces should be substantially reduced to serve a comprehensively revised policy …

Chuck Grassley Fundraises Against Health-Care Reform — Chuck Grassley is facing a potentially difficult primary challenge in 2010. As such, he's been working hard to cover his right flank. That would all be fine except for one thing: As ranking member of the Finance Committee …

ABC News Exclusive: National Security Adviser Says President Obama Is Having Greater Success Taking Terrorists Out of Commission Than Bush Did — Responding to criticism from former Vice President Cheney that President Obama is making the nation more vulnerable to terrorism …

A Different Kind of Liberal — Only 13 days separated the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics, from the death of her brother Ted last week. But amid the wall-to-wall coverage and the stream of retrospectives for the senior senator from Massachusetts …

Experts see double-digit Dem losses — After an August recess marked by raucoustown halls, troubling polling data and widespread anecdotal evidence of a volatile electorate, the small universe of political analysts who closely follow House races is predicting moderate to heavy Democratic losses in 2010.

Who is Jennifer? Another Case of Inter-Campaign Trickery — Bob McDonnell's campaign received a call this morning from a woman who called herself “Jennifer” and claimed to be a freelance reporter from the Connection newspapers in Northern Virginia. She asked for information about McDonnell's schedule.

As Banks Repay Bailout Money, U.S. Sees a Profit — Nearly a year after the federal rescue of the nation's biggest banks, taxpayers have begun seeing profits from the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid that many critics thought might never be seen again.

The Courtship — The story behind the Obama-Brooks bromance. — In the spring of 2005, New York Times columnist David Brooks arrived at then-Senator Barack Obama's office for a chat. Brooks, a conservative writer who joined the Times in 2003 from The Weekly Standard, had never met Obama before.

Why Don't Markets Clear in Urban Storefronts? — Vacant storefront on 1300 block of U Street; good place for a Wendy's? (cc photo by NCinDC) — One of the enduring mysteries of urban life is the prevalence of vacant storefronts. This is understandable in a truly depressed area where the whole local economy has broken down.

Organizing Against WorldNetDaily — This is just hideously embarrassing for the Right. … In the 1960's, William F. Buckley denounced the John Birch Society leadership for being “so far removed from common sense” and later said “We cannot allow the emblem of irresponsibility to attach to the conservative banner.”

Obama Asks Federal Workers to Sacrifice — Citing the current economic recession — and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks eight years ago — President Obama says he will use emergency powers to cut the programmed across-the-board January increase in federal employees' pay from 2.4 percent to 2.0 percent …

Palin gets 1,070+ invitations — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin this week will begin accepting and rejecting the more than 1,070 invitations she has received for paid speeches and political appearances since she resigned as Alaska governor, aides said. — Twenty speakers' bureaus made offers to represent her.

Ridge backpedals on pressure to raise terror alert level — WASHINGTON — Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge, speaking for the first time about accusations made in his new book, says he did not mean to suggest that other top Bush administration officials were playing politics …

Dems/unions push new wave of investment taxes — American equity investors have suffered a lost decade of portfolio performance — the S&P 500 is about where it was back in 1998 — and trillions of dollars of lost net worth, so it may seem a terrible time to hit them with a $100 billion-a-year investment tax.